1943 Wind Beneath My Wings.

I think I have my Xmas shopping all done. It’s not nearly as hard now because we changed the gift rules. There were just too damn many people in the extended family. Now we have a… Lottery system. I’m not sure that’s right. We pair off now. It’s a much better system.

It’s hard to shop for me now because I pretty much take care of all my stuff myself. I don’t use traditional art supplies anymore, I have no hobbies that you can randomly contribute to, I’m picky about what I eat, and perfumes & such make me ill. So a lot of obvious avenues are cut off unless you want to do recon. Liking Lego solves a lot of that though since I just part stuff out for my projects. Although people are often embarrassed by giving a toy to a 42 year old. Or embarrassed on my behalf. I look at Lego very much as a tool for artistic expression. Sculpting essentially. Which is basically what the adult Lego scene is all about. I always need structural sets, door, windows, that sort of thing. Right now I’m trying to make a two story book store that uses the new style book. But the shelving is the issue because I want the books to stay put. It’s going to require a lot of specific parts. In specific colors. After that I’m going to submit it to the ideas team and then be immortalized in Lego history. Hopefully…

Managers can also add this rule, from the US Army’s Rangers:
“Upon discovering a superior enemy in the morning, you should wait until dark to attack, thus hiding your lack of numbers and using the night to aid your retreat.”

It’s usually just time set aside at the end of the shift to communicate anything the employees need to know. “Corporate is swinging through next week.”, “We haven’t had an accident in X Time Frame, good work. If we make it to Y Time Frame, we receive Z Incentive”, “Losses are up, so keep your eyes open.” that kind of thing. It’s rare for them to go over five minutes, in my experience.

Basically, everyone gathers up by the doors, which are locked. If there’s nothing to say, the supervisor unlocks the doors and ushers everyone out. If there is something to say, they say it before they cut everyone loose for the night.